pennypue
Contributor
I bought one of them for my daughter years ago. She has used and abused them in a pool for years. I think you'll be pleased with them.Torontonian:
Is Costco Body Glove snorkel package good?
- Thread starter Torontonian
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
PugetDiver
Contributor
- Messages
- 116
- Reaction score
- 2
Torontonian:
Costco is great. If the mask doesn't fit right, you can just take it back for a full refund. I am sure she will be pleased. I would however also look at Big 5. They have the US Divers line for a really inexpensive price. BTW, I still use the US Divers (Avalon)mask for scuba as it fits me better than any other mask I could find. Good Luck!
OP
Torontonian
Contributor
PugetDiver:
What is Big 5? Is that a store or brand, and where?
Thanks.
PugetDiver
Contributor
- Messages
- 116
- Reaction score
- 2
Torontonian:
Sorry didn't see that you were from Canada. Big 5 Sporting Goods is a Western U.S. retailer. If I were you I would just probably buy the Costco deal or maybe you could contact US Divers to find a local Toronto dealer.
Here is a link to an online retailer that sells the US Divers line.
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1399174&cp=710607&parentPage=family
Mr. X
Registered
Bought my son a new Tesco silicone snorkel + mask package. Seems pretty good but even though it is a kids package the mask has a sticker that says because of the size of the bore, it is intended for adults only. Poor show Tescos. That said, it has a clearing valve & my son generally rips the snorkel out of his mouth to clear it anyway (I love the way kids cut the cr*p like that -- they are so much smarter than adults).
redrover
Guest
Many people do have average faces as testified by to other posters and found the generic mask to work fine. I have three examples where this was not true.
Myself: began snorkeling from just such a CostCo package and constantly had slow mask leaks, enough to be a source of major aggravation. Once I began clearing the mask to see it would also begin to fog. I splurged for a professional fitted mask that took quite some time to find what did fit right. 6 years later it is still the only mask Ive found to fit right (checking every so often in the shops for a replacement as some day it will pass on.) The fins and snorkel were fine for a while.
My neice, borrowing my first also had frequent leaks although it did appear to fit sufficiently to my uneducated knowledge about how to tell. She was new to snorkeling and it did nothing to make her seek more experiences. (BTW she is a college scholarship athlete and not a prissy woosie.)
A visiting company employee out with us to snorkel the first time yesterday could not find a good fitting mask amongst the dozen we had for him to use. We kept seeing things like swimming eels he missed because he was messing with the best fitting mask we had.
So in my opinion; I think spending the time and (probably) additional money to get a correct fit for the mask is worth it. I think it would be reasonable go to a shop and see if the majority of masks fit either one of you. In that case going for the CostCo packages is likely to work fine. Otherwise get a mask that fits properly and you need someone that knows how to do it.
Cheapest snorkel is fine.
As for fins, if you are planning to only do boat snorkeling trips the closed fins are fine. If you are coming to the Big Island (I dont remember the shore situations on the other islands) get the open heel and use a bootie. All you need is the low cut sock type. My LDS has inexpensive booties, other shops may as well. The lava is not only blazing hot (sand too) but extraordinarily slippery when wet and viciously cruel even to us locals used to less protective footwear. Also less hardened feet are more prone to the fin rubbing skin off. (We should have got the Calif. employee booties, now he has toe pain far out of proportion of the actual injury.) The bootie should be located first and used to fit the fins.
Practice is good if not used to the ocean. Ill never forget my first open ocean snorkeling experience in the Caribbean when living in the North. I was with a group and the only one who had the shocking realization there was no edge on this pool. It would have been helpful if the mask, snorkel and fins were a source of comfort rather than contraptions I didnt know how to use.
Not that all of the above is vitally necessary, I just think it is supposed to be fun. Ive had more fun and less fun, more fun was better.
Myself: began snorkeling from just such a CostCo package and constantly had slow mask leaks, enough to be a source of major aggravation. Once I began clearing the mask to see it would also begin to fog. I splurged for a professional fitted mask that took quite some time to find what did fit right. 6 years later it is still the only mask Ive found to fit right (checking every so often in the shops for a replacement as some day it will pass on.) The fins and snorkel were fine for a while.
My neice, borrowing my first also had frequent leaks although it did appear to fit sufficiently to my uneducated knowledge about how to tell. She was new to snorkeling and it did nothing to make her seek more experiences. (BTW she is a college scholarship athlete and not a prissy woosie.)
A visiting company employee out with us to snorkel the first time yesterday could not find a good fitting mask amongst the dozen we had for him to use. We kept seeing things like swimming eels he missed because he was messing with the best fitting mask we had.
So in my opinion; I think spending the time and (probably) additional money to get a correct fit for the mask is worth it. I think it would be reasonable go to a shop and see if the majority of masks fit either one of you. In that case going for the CostCo packages is likely to work fine. Otherwise get a mask that fits properly and you need someone that knows how to do it.
Cheapest snorkel is fine.
As for fins, if you are planning to only do boat snorkeling trips the closed fins are fine. If you are coming to the Big Island (I dont remember the shore situations on the other islands) get the open heel and use a bootie. All you need is the low cut sock type. My LDS has inexpensive booties, other shops may as well. The lava is not only blazing hot (sand too) but extraordinarily slippery when wet and viciously cruel even to us locals used to less protective footwear. Also less hardened feet are more prone to the fin rubbing skin off. (We should have got the Calif. employee booties, now he has toe pain far out of proportion of the actual injury.) The bootie should be located first and used to fit the fins.
Practice is good if not used to the ocean. Ill never forget my first open ocean snorkeling experience in the Caribbean when living in the North. I was with a group and the only one who had the shocking realization there was no edge on this pool. It would have been helpful if the mask, snorkel and fins were a source of comfort rather than contraptions I didnt know how to use.
Not that all of the above is vitally necessary, I just think it is supposed to be fun. Ive had more fun and less fun, more fun was better.
evorocket
Registered
I have been considering the Costco snorkeling set myself and all these comments are definitely helpful. Before seeing that set, I had my eyes on other stuff. Cressi Sub have top end sets which include mask, snorkle, open heel fins, and bootie for about $129 at www.leisurepro.com. The fins alone (Cressi Sub Rondine A were $240 CAD at a local shop. Best value for wetsuit was a Akona 6.5mm two piece for about $149. I haven't made up my mind yet how much I'm willing to dish out. The Costco deal is hard to beat if the quality is reasonable.
k8brandt
Contributor
Go for it! Then if you decide you don't like snorkeling, you are only out a few bucks. You can always upgrade later on. I also got a 3ml shorty at Costco, but that was years ago...
Bought the same set from Sam's club two years ago. For snorkeling it's a good deal. I do not consider it dive quality myself but I still take mine if I think I'm gonna do some surface only stuff. It's also great for surface work in the pool.
holdingmybreath
Contributor
I've read most of the previous posts and only one thing I don't agree so much with... the bit about upgrading to open heel fins... don't sweat that, go with the closed heel, get them one size over and pick up a pair of neoprene socks. You'll be able to wear 3mil. even up to 5mil for under the ice with a one size over foot pocket. you'll never have to worry about fin straps breaking. I don't know what's been keeping the scuba divers from going with full foot fins. There's more positives on the full foot fins.
Similar threads
